This transcript appears to be from the December 15, 2020, Cannon Falls City Council meeting. Please note that while your provided list contains current officials, the transcript features some different names (likely due to the date of the meeting). I have used the names called during the roll call and mentioned throughout the dialogue to ensure accuracy. [0:47] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** There but they can't hear us. Yeah, there we go. Okay, good evening everybody. Welcome to the December 15th City Council meeting for the City of Cannon Falls. Could we have roll call please? [0:55] **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Bringgold? **Council Member Bringgold:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Duncan? **Council Member Duncan:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Gesme? **Council Member Mary Jill Gesme:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Lindell? **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Matson? **Council Member Morris Matson:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Montgomery? **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Here. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Althoff? **Council Member Bill Althoff:** Here. [1:13] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Would you rise for the Pledge of Allegiance? I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. [1:36] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, before we start tonight, I got a little presentation. Morris, would you come forward? It's the gold watch. Oh, exactly. Oh, here, in recognition of your outstanding achievement, the City of Cannon Falls would like to thank you for 10 years of fine and dedicated service. Thank you. There you go. [2:13] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Our new Public Works Director, Ty Reimers, right here. Welcome aboard. Hey, Ty. Hey, Morris, was that printed at your shop? What was that? Was that printed at your shop? Is that—is that the official certificate suitable for framing? Must be. Yeah. Okay. Could we have approval of the agenda? [2:43] **Council Member Morris Matson:** I'll move. **Council Member Duncan:** Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Matson, second by Duncan to approve the agenda. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Aye. Carried. Okay, Consent Agenda. [2:59] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Consent agenda items may be adopted under one motion as presented or may be removed for discussion and resolution as Council business. For you at home and in the audience, I'll go through the consent agenda. Item A: Just and correct claims for the accounting period ending December 11th, 2020. Item B: Minutes for the December 1st, 2020, City Council meeting. Item C: Resolution 25-26 adopting the 2021 tax levy and budget. Item D: Approve the purchase of ventilators and disposal of old ventilators for the Ambulance Department. Item E: Cannon Falls Bomber Dance Team banner request. And Item F: Resolution 25-28 approving the State of Minnesota joint powers agreements with the City on behalf of the City Attorney and Police Department. Is there anything the Council would like to pull down? [4:11] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Anything? **Council Member:** Item C, please. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Item what? **Council Member:** Item C. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Item C, okay. Okay, we'll make that Item E under Council business, the 2021 tax levy and budget. Okay, anybody else? I’ll take a motion to accept the Consent Agenda with the exception of Item C. [4:40] **Council Member Derek Lindell:** So moved. **Council Member Bringgold:** Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Lindell and a second by Bringgold to adopt the Consent Agenda minus Item C. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, on to Council business. Item A: The Groundback Construction water and sewer fee reduction. That's for Cannon Bell Cheese. Neil, I'm going to take that? [5:22] **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** Yeah. Um, Groundback Construction is the owner of the building that's going to be housing the Cannon Falls Cheese plant. Due to the high costs of construction materials and construction in general through this pandemic, they are requesting a reduction in the sewer and water fees associated with the building permit and the hookups for the city. They'll need a four-inch sewer and a two-inch water. The four-inch sewer is $5,600 and the two-inch water is $9,800. That's a total of $15,400. We brought this request to the Finance Committee and they reviewed it and made a recommendation. The consensus was to reduce it from $15,400 down to the minimum fee in our commercial and industrial users department to $11,200, which is $5,600 for each. And that should just about wrap it up for what I've got. $11,200 is the recommendation from the Finance Committee. [6:59] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Anybody want to make a motion on to that effect? **Council Member Morris Matson:** I'll make the motion. **Council Member Duncan:** I'll second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Matson and the second by Duncan to reduce the water and sewer fee for Groundback Construction to $11,200 for the water and sewer. Is there any other discussion? [7:23] **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Um, this is fine. I think it seems like we lower these quite a bit, so maybe it'd be worth looking into whether we should just lower our standard fees going forward. [7:34] **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** We are. That's a good point. We've already been talking about it. We're going to talk about our fee schedules here very shortly. **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Okay. You're right. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay. All in favor? Aye. Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item B: Approve the legal services agreement with Hoff Berry. Neil? [7:53] **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** We held the interviews with four applicants for the City Attorney civil part of the attorney's job. Sarah Schwartzhoff from Hoff Berry gave a presentation for their firm and the Council selected her and her firm as the next civil attorney. You'll find in your packets the agreement that they use for a contract. So, I don't know if Sarah's got anything to add. I see she's on Zoom. You out there? [8:41] **Sarah Schwartzhoff (Attorney):** I am here. I don't have anything specific to add, but I'm happy to answer any questions. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Any questions for Sarah? I don't have any. No, I guess not. Well, welcome aboard, Sarah. **Council Member:** Well, we have to approve her first. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Approve her first, but I'll— **Council Member Duncan:** I'll make a motion to approve the agreement with Hoff Berry. **Council Member Mary Jill Gesme:** I'll second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Duncan, a second by Gesme to approve the legal service agreement with Hoff Berry. Any discussion? All in favor? Aye. Aye. Now I can say welcome aboard, Sarah. **Sarah Schwartzhoff:** Thank you. [9:24] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, moving on. Item C: Approve an LELS union agreement for 2021 to 2023. Neil? [9:36] **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** Well, the negotiating committee met with LELS, which is the police officers' union. I think it was only one time... one meeting, wasn't it? Yeah, two meetings. The changes to the contract were very minimal. There was a 10 cent per hour for the rotating schedule, which brought it up to 85 cents per hour. The Janus ruling, which has changed by federal change for the "fair share," was eliminated, so that language was removed in the contract. And then the wage increase—I see in my memo I have it not quite correct—but the wage increase for 2021 is 1% in January and 1% in July. And for 2022, it's the same. And for 2023, it's the same. So 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%, 1%. I guess I do have it right. Yeah, sorry. So with that approval, that'll be one done out of the three. And I think we're very, very close on the other two union contracts. [11:15] **Council Member Mary Jill Gesme:** I'll make that a motion. **Council Member Morris Matson:** I'll second it. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Gesme, a second by Matson to approve the LELS union contract 2021-2023. Any other discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item D is Resolution 25-27 approving the LELS Health Care Savings Plan. Neil? [11:43] **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** Yeah, along with the contract, the Health Care Savings Plan resolution expires at the end of the year. This is just renewing it. There's no other changes brought forth, so it's just part of the contract. You'll see another one when the other contract comes due. So it's just an add-on. [12:12] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, do I have a motion approving the Health Care Savings Plan? **Council Member Duncan:** I'll make a motion to approve Resolution 25-27. **Council Member Morris Matson:** I'll second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Duncan and a second by Matson to approve the resolution 25-27 approving the LELS Health Care Savings Plan. Any other discussion? All in favor? Opposed? Carried. Okay, Item E is the 2021 tax levy and budget. Matt, you pulled that down. I'll turn it over to you. [12:54] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Yeah, I apologize if there's any delays on the audio here. I'm not going to make a motion to change anything about this, but I wanted to pull this down to bring up the point: I disagree with how we are treating the Police Department monetarily. If this was about the economy and our taxes and trying to save our citizens money looking forward, I can understand that. But if that was the case, we would be looking at departments equally and we would be seeing where we could trim the fat. To see that our Police Department is facing a 14% payroll cut and losing a full-time employee in the same year that they lost a sergeant due to resignation—which we are refilling, but that is time without a full staff—and we lost an officer to health reasons... I think this department is already dealing with a blow of being understaffed. I know that some people will say this is just about the money, but I am concerned for the future of our Police Department and I hope that we reconsider moving forward next year seeing how this budget affects them, and that we keep a close eye on our Police Department so that we can fix this if we think that this would be a mistake. That's all. Thank you. [14:38] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, is there a motion to approve the 2021 tax levy and budget? **Council Member Bringgold:** Yes, I'll make that a motion to pass that. **Council Member Duncan:** I'll second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Motion by Bringgold, a second by Duncan to adopt Resolution 25-26 adopting the 2021 tax levy and budget. Is there any other discussion? Let's do a roll call vote on that. [15:02] **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Bringgold? **Council Member Bringgold:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Duncan? **Council Member Duncan:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Gesme? **Council Member Mary Jill Gesme:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Lindell? **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Matson? **Council Member Morris Matson:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Montgomery? **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Aye. **City Clerk Sara Peer:** Althoff? **Council Member Bill Althoff:** Aye. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, unanimously passes. Okay, Council committees. Kyle, Chamber? [15:40] **Kyle Linscheid (Chamber of Commerce):** Good evening Council and community. I do have to start out with some sad news and some of you may have heard this, but Pat Anderson passed away yesterday. Patty was with the Chamber for 32 years. Some of the things that she accomplished while she was with them... I mean, she set up visits from President Obama, from Governors Perpich, Carlson, and Venturi—Ventura, thank you very much. Besides that, the Sesquicentennial, she took care of that whole event. The Colvill memorial and veterans memorials... one thing that Patty really enjoyed doing as she was in the Chamber was helping people who came in looking for their family history. What she found mostly was that she was related to them somewhere in their back generations, and so she did enjoy that. I have had some of those people come in and think I can do the same, but I have to apologize because I'm not from the community. And so, I wish Patty's family all the best. You will be in all of our thoughts and prayers and hopefully she is resting happily. Our events finishing up this week: the Light Up Cannon Falls Adopt-a-Tree program. This is part of the decorating. If you would like those on the tour map, please let the Cannon Falls Chamber know. Right now we only have seven, but as I have gone driving around, I am seeing beautiful displays of color. People may not be calling in their addresses, but I will mark areas where there's very beautiful decorations going up. Matter of fact, there is one that has music—the lights are synced to Christmas carols. You dial into a radio station 91.3 and it's fabulous. So if you know where Barclay is, go out there and have a good time. The Buy Local Giving Tree—we really thought this would have been a bigger program. We actually only received seven children's names to buy gifts for. We purchased two presents for each of them, but I've got at least four or five more people who would like to purchase gifts. So that was interesting that we don't have needy families that could use some assistance. If you're still out there, please call the Chamber of Commerce. Our Holiday Scavenger Hunt—I hope you've all been enjoying it. There are 20 clues; the last one went out today. On Facebook and Instagram, the views are anywhere from 200 to 450. I'm waiting to see how many actual full lists with locations come in. They need to be in by noon on December 18th. We do have three prizes: $200, $100, and $50 in Chamber dollars. And then the last thing is the Northfield Area Chamber of Commerce came up with a fundraising event where they are raffling off a 2020 Chevy Equinox plus 18 additional prizes. The tickets are $100 and it goes through this Friday. There's only 750 tickets for sale. As of the beginning of this week, only 400 had been sold. We are selling them here at the Chamber office in Cannon Falls and that helps to support our Chamber. Are there any other questions on that? [21:44] **Council Member Morris Matson:** Giving tree thing... I'm registered at Red Wing Chevrolet, so if anybody... **Kyle Linscheid:** You are? In what grade are you? **Council Member:** Is Toys for Tots—is that over with now? **Kyle Linscheid:** Yes, it is. They did pick up the boxes yesterday. However, I know Kathy at Cannon Bells just let me know that they had more toys dropped off today, so I will give them a call and see if there's any way they can come back and pick these up. Because it was supposed to go through the 16th, which is tomorrow. Okay, anything else? If you have decorating that you would love for people to see, please call the Chamber. That number is 263-2289. Thank you very much. Your little tree... he’s got a little tree. Thank you, Kyle. [22:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, EDA. Laura? [22:47] **Laura Qualey (Community & Business Development Specialist):** Just a little update. We've had some nibbles on the Cannonball site. I've reached out to a few different developers. We've had some calls—some have been driving down the highway, some have seen the sign in the parking lot. I've had a guy from Russia ask if he could please acquire some real estate in the United States, but I didn't follow up with him. So we have some prospective activity on it. Thursday we're going to have our strategic plan and goal setting for EDA. That will be our full board with our outgoing EDA members and then our two new incoming. That will be here in Council Chambers at 3:30 on Thursday. As far as Blandin goes, my goal was to get every dollar allocated before the end of this year and I have done so. So I actually get to steal a little of Nicole's thunder. Nicole came to me with a request for some Chromebooks for the library that can be rented out. She’s only requesting $1,360 from the Blandin funds as she has also secured some other grant dollars. Then I spoke with Superintendent Samson today and he's working on his project plan with some dollars through the district to match so that we can get more families provided with better internet service or hot spots. So right down to the penny, that money is allocated for the year. And the last thing I have to say is just Christmas is next week—gift cards from our local businesses would really be helpful. That's it. [26:15] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, thank you. Planning Commission met last night. **Council Member Bill Althoff:** Yeah, we met last night. We had two items on the agenda. One was a fairly simple administrative item and the other one was a lot split that we approved. [26:32] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Library Board. Mary Jill, or Nicole's out there? [26:36] **Nicole Miller (Library Director):** I'm here. I'm at home, but you know. So what's going on at the library right now? We had to pull back to curbside service because there was a staff exposure to COVID right before Thanksgiving. I had to close the library just to make sure everything was all clear, but then we had to pull back to an earlier phase of our reopening plan. That's only three people in the building working at a time and physically distanced. I am currently working at home because I'm recovering from shoulder surgery. But I'm really, really happy that we've gotten those grants for the Chromebooks. One of the grants was from Mayo Health System, so I was able to buy five Chromebooks with that. My goal is to have them available by the end of the month. And then Laura told me today that Blandin approved the additional funding so I was able to order five more. I also have a grant from Goodhue County for something we're starting in the spring—a "Harvest Box." It's going to be like a free little produce library. I found out right before 5:00 that we also got a grant to start "Story Walks" in parks here in town. Alexa has also created story time kits so people can check out a kit with books and songs to do with their kids at home. Of course, check out our windows because we put lights in them. And now I'm done. [30:19] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, thank you Nicole. Okay, let's go around. Jeff, you got anything tonight? **Police Chief Jeff McCormick:** Only about 20 minutes' worth. Oh, god. Just kidding. I've got nothing. [30:35] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, Neil? **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** Just a couple items. I want to thank Morris for all his work and all his years of helping out Cannon Falls. It's been a pleasure. I know I've only put in three-quarters of a year with you, but it's been fun. **Council Member Morris Matson:** Thank you. **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** Been working with Ty already. He's day two and he's still here, so that's a good thing. Back after lunch and everything! Wow. We've already discussed working on a capital equipment plan and we'll be getting going on that throughout the winter here as we enter into the 2022 budget. That's it. [31:34] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Okay, thank you. Let's go around the Council. Derek, you got anything? **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Yeah, just wanted to thank Morris for all the service. It's been a pleasure working with you. Hope you stay involved in some way, shape, or form. **Council Member Morris Matson:** John's already twisted my arm. **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Oh, has he? **Council Member Morris Matson:** Yeah, he's going to be on the Planning. **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Oh, perfect. And yeah, it's been a trying year for the country as a whole, but I feel like we made it through pretty well. We got an adequate City Administrator now... **Neil Jensen (City Administrator):** That's what you think! **Council Member Derek Lindell:** Oh my god. Neil's doing a great job and finally got a Public Works Director, so things are looking good going into next year. [32:27] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Morris, you got anything? **Council Member Morris Matson:** I just want to thank you all for putting up with me. And as far as Neil goes, you know, this negotiations like I mentioned last time... it’s been a pleasure working with everybody. Thank you. [32:48] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Mary Jill? **Council Member Mary Jill Gesme:** Um, just first of all, Matt, thank you for your thoughtful comments on the budget. I think it always behooves us to look at things, so I absolutely agree that we need to keep our eye on stuff. Secondly, to kind of piggyback off what Kyle said, oh god, I'm not the only person in this room who's known Pat for over 50 years. I was her choir director for about 30 years. I do hope she's resting in peace tonight. That's all. [33:43] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Bill? **Council Member Bill Althoff:** Yeah, um, first, Morris again, thank you. And you'll be with me on Planning Commission as John twisted your arm. I don't think most people realize 10 years on a Council is a long time. That's a big commitment and you met it very well. Also, as we won't be meeting again until January, I want to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. [34:36] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Council Member Duncan? **Council Member Duncan:** Morris, yeah, expect calls or maybe some of your input. Just because you're off the Council doesn't mean you still couldn't be used for certain things. Welcome to Ty—you’ve got a good staff. I think you're a good fit. I enjoyed working with you during the interview. I am a little bit disappointed that now there's two people from Cannon Bells and neither one of them has Superman ice cream. Other than that, that's all I have. [35:28] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Matt? **Council Member / Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Sure, thank you. Same thing has been said, but thank you, Morris, for all the service that you've had. I know I'll still see you around. Thank you for everything that you still do for this community. You know, we're approaching the end of the year... Neil, you have done a tremendous job here this year, so thank you. Also, an accomplishment mostly due to Neil is the upgrade of the pool and the refurbishing. Hopefully we will be a little bit closer to normal by spring. Welcome to Ty—we met during the interview process, I wish you the absolute best of luck. Public Works is very important to this community. Other than that, happy holidays, stay safe, stay healthy. That's it. [36:45] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Thank you. Just a few things—kind of expand on what Kyle was saying: Shop locally. These merchants need us. Condolences to the Anderson family; Patty's going to be missed. Morris, great 10 years. Thank you for your service and I'm glad you're sticking with us too on the Planning Commission. And welcome, Ty. I think you're going to do a good job. Okay, let's get into public input. Citizens may speak to issues not on the agenda... I’ll open public input. Anybody for public input? [38:03] **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Third and final call, public input. Hearing none, we’ll close the public input. Before we adjourn, I just want to wish everybody Merry Christmas, Happy New Year. Again, Neil, you've done a good job, we appreciate your work too. And hopefully 2021 will be better than what we've gone through this year. Oh my gosh. Okay, with that I take a motion to adjourn. [38:35] **Council Member:** So moved. **Council Member:** Second. **Mayor Matt Montgomery:** Second by Duncan. All in favor? Aye. All carried.